


Moonage Daydream

by Star_trekkin_across_theuniverse



Series: Escape [6]
Category: Guardians of the Galaxy (Movies)
Genre: F/M, Peter & Roxy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-23
Updated: 2015-06-23
Packaged: 2018-04-05 18:35:00
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4190592
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Star_trekkin_across_theuniverse/pseuds/Star_trekkin_across_theuniverse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While on a tour stop in Austin, Roxanne discovers something that will change the very nature of her relationship with Peter Quill.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Moonage Daydream

Roxy sat on the edge of the bathtub and closed her eyes, willing herself to not stare at the stick in her hand. 

“One-one-thousand. Two-one-thousand,” she kept her eyes closed, and forced herself to breathe slowly. Not something she had ever anticipated doing in her life. Peter was waiting, sprawled across the bed. There had been a nervous tension to him when he’d returned from the drugstore. She would almost qualify it as anticipatory, or excited. Which was weird because in all their limited interactions, Peter Quill had never struck her as the type that would be excited by babies.

“Oh god. Pete? You don’t eat babies, do you?” She called through the door. A low laugh met her in response.

“No. Why, you cooking up dinner in there?” Roxanne could hear his feet hit the floor and pad across the carpet to the door.

“Too scared to look,” she admitted. 

“Let me in, Rox,” Peter jiggled the door handle. Roxanne leaned across the small room and flipped the lock. Peter came in and took the test out of her hand, wrapping his fingers across the result screen. “Are you okay with me checking this?”

“What if I am pregnant, Pete?” Roxanne could feel anxiety welling up in her chest.

“Then we have a baby?” Peter shrugged in response.

“Is it that easy in outer space? Because here, we have to raise the child, and provide for it, and love it and –“

“I think you forget that I spent the first decade of my life on this planet, Rox. I know what Terrans do with kids. I had an amazing mom,” he interrupted. “She read to me, taught me about music, took me to movies. Even when she was dying, Rox. I just - I know what it’s like to be a kid here.”

“I’m sorry, Pete, I wasn’t thinking,” Roxanne apologized. He sat down beside her on the edge of the tub, and handed the pregnancy test back to her.

“You need to see this before I do.” He slipped an arm around her waist and looked at her, forcing himself to not look at the stick in her hand. He watched her face as she closed her eyes and took another long, deep breath. She looked down at the test in her hand, and sucked the edge of her lip into her mouth, pushing her breath out of the corner of her mouth. Her eyes filled and she blinked, a lone tear trailing down her cheek. Peter waited, but Roxanne said nothing. She dashed the tear off her cheek and handed the stick to him.

“Are you sure this is what you want, Pete?” Her voice was tiny, hesitant. He’d never heard her so uncertain. He looked down at the test, and the two lines side by side. He’d read the handout three times over while Roxanne was in the bathroom, but still pulled the crumpled paper out of his pocket to check it against the test.

“This means you’re pregnant, Roxanne.” He felt like he was stating the obvious. Probably because he was stating the obvious.

“Yes.” Roxanne’s voice was little more than a whisper, and Peter could feel the tension in her back. “I’m sorry.” Her voice cracked. He stretched his arm around her and pulled her against his side, kissing the top of his head. 

“Don’t,” he chastised. “It’s nothing I expected when I walked into your store, Roxanne, but what’s done is done. I mean, unless you don’t want –“

“I don’t know, Pete,” she interrupted. “I mean, how far along am I? What if I’ve done something wrong? I haven’t been drinking since the tour started, but what if I was drinking before and wrecked the baby? I flew across the country, and I have been on stage, and keeping weird hours and –“

“This is probably not the right time to tell you that I turned out okay, is it?” Peter interrupted.

“What do you mean, you turned out okay?”

“Roxanne, I’m only half Terr- half human. My dad was an alien of some kind. And I turned out okay. You won’t have wrecked this baby just because you’ve been working,” he reassured her.

“You’re half-alien?” Roxanne jumped up. “Why wouldn’t you tell me that?”

“Because I didn’t think it was important?” Peter reached out for her, puzzled that she was pulling away.

“Prove that it’s not a big deal!” Roxanne exclaimed. Peter’s brow furrowed in confusion. He shrugged, stood up and started taking his clothes off. “What the hell are you doing?” She squealed and threw a towel across the bathroom at him.

“Well, obviously you’ve forgotten what I look like. I don’t know how else to reassure you that I’m not any different,” Peter unclasped his belt and made to drop his pants.

“I know what you look like naked, Peter! Leave your clothes on,” Roxanne gasped, suddenly hit with the absurdity of the scene. The two of them standing in a tiny hotel bathroom, abandoned pregnancy test on the floor between them, and Peter half naked. She cringed at the thought of the tabloids getting wind of it. “I’m sorry.”

“Stop apologizing, Rox.” Peter re-zipped his pants and picked up his shirt from the floor. “We need to sit down and have a long conversation about this, and I can’t do it if you’re going to apologize every few seconds.”

“Right,” Roxanne nodded, rubbing her forehead. “Was there any pizza left?”

XXX

Roxanne was propped up against the headboard, a pillow behind her back, her legs crossed in front of her. Peter was sprawled across the width of the king-sized bed, head propped on his arm, staring at her.

“I guess the most important part of the discussion is whether or not you want this baby, Rox.” Peter’s eyes flicked away briefly as he spoke. Roxanne drew in a deep breath.

“I have seriously never thought about this. Ever. I never contemplated having children of my own,” Roxanne admitted.

“What about adopting?”

“Jinx and I had talked about that while we were still married. We’d figured, five, ten years down the road, there would be time and opportunity,” Roxanne admitted. “I guess that was about five years ago.”

“This isn’t a decision you need to make tonight, Rox.” Peter dropped his hand onto her knee and squeezed gently.

“It’s your decision too,” she argued.

“Roxanne, let’s be honest. You have a life on this planet. You have a high profile life on this planet. I vanished, without a trace, in 1989. I am, essentially, a space scavenger. With no education, no skills that could convert on this planet at all. This is your decision.”

“So you don’t plan on being around for the baby?” Roxanne asked. “If I have it, I mean.”

“That’s not what I’m saying. My life is out there.” Peter gestured toward the open window and night sky. “I can no more walk away from it than I can ask you to walk away from your life here.”

“So –“

“So we’ll both have to compromise.”

“Is that something you’re willing to do?” Roxanne asked.

“I never knew my Dad.” Peter sat up. “I’m not going to abandon my child, or his mother. But like I said. You don’t have to make this decision tonight.”

“I kind of do, Pete. I’m showing. I need prenatal care. The tour will need to be adapted. And then –“

“Sounds like you’ve already made up your mind,” Peter interrupted. Roxanne bit her lip again, and slid her hand down across the gentle swell of her belly.

“This was never supposed to happen. I’m not about to ask why it’s happening now. I’m just going to roll with it,” Roxanne shrugged. Peter leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

“We’ll figure this out,” he promised. Roxanne nodded, and relaxed as he rearranged himself beside her on the bed, pulling him into the circle of his arms. Roxanne relaxed against him, feeling the tension melt from her shoulders. Peter reached over and flicked the light switch, dropping the room into darkness. She was beginning to drift off the sleep when she sat bolt upright in bed.

“Oh shit! Tony!” She gasped into the dark room.

“Seriously?” Peter groaned.

“I have to talk to him about this, Peter.” Roxanne was already reaching for her phone. Peter stopped her, placing his hand over hers.

“Or you could just blindside him with it in the morning and make him wonder what he doesn’t remember,” he teased. Roxanne let out a burst of surprised laughter.

“I’m sorry, were you not completely reeling with jealousy over the thought that I might be sleeping with both of you just a few hours ago?” Roxanne asked.

“Ah, but now I know that you’re carrying –“

“There is no way for you to finish that sentence without sounding like a sexist pig, Peter Quill,” Roxanne interrupted. Peter laughed and kissed her.

“Fine. I won’t finish my thought. But I’m not worried about Tony Stark. That’s not ironbaby. It’s starbaby.” He slipped his hand across her belly possessively, and pulled her back to the mattress.

XXX

“I got your message, StarLady. Is this about the fake news about us?” Roxanne’s phone chirped as the message came through.

“Can you meet me at the concert tonight or not?” Roxanne was going to let Peter call the shots on this prank. He kept cracking up and throwing out ideas about how to make Stark sweat. Roxanne kind of liked the idea of a bit of revenge after some of the discomfort of the playacting Tony had coerced her into.

“Barring emergency, yes.” The response was quick. “You’re okay, right?” The second message followed almost too quickly.  
“We’ll talk tonight.” Roxanne silenced the text ring and flopped back into bed. Peter slipped under the covers beside her and pulled her close.

“Do you have any family left on earth, Pete?” Roxanne asked. Peter met her gaze and pursed his lips.

“Maybe? My mom and I lived with my grandfather. He might still be alive. Probably in his eighties?” Peter rolled onto his back and stared at the ceiling. Roxanne rolled onto her side and narrowed her eyes. Her eyes widened and she dropped a hand onto Peter’s chest.

“Jesus Christ, Pete. I bet you were a milk box kid!” Roxanne exclaimed.

“A what?”

“You were a kid when you were taken, right? I bet your face was on milk cartons all over the country,” Roxanne explained. Peter rolled his eyes.

“I doubt it. They probably thought I ran away,” he snorted. “Everyone was a little preoccupied with my Mom dying.” Roxanne leaned in and kissed his forehead.

“You were just a child, Pete. I bet your granddad’s heart was broken to lose you and your mom, all at the same time.” She pressed her forehead to his and closed her eyes. “We can talk about family later though.” She yawned and scooted down in the bed until her head was resting on Peter’s chest. Peter listened as her breathing slowed; thinking about his grandfather and the day Yondu took him from Earth. He tangled his fingers up in the hair at the nape of Roxanne’s neck and sighed.

“Maybe I should look him up?” Peter asked, quietly. Roxanne’s gentle snores were the only response he received.

XXX

“I’ll go on my own, Pete,” Roxanne argued as she pulled her hair up into a ponytail.

“Shouldn’t I be with you? What if something is wrong?” He asked. They’d been squabbling about Roxanne’s doctor’s appointment since she’d wakened. “Explain again how you found a doctor while you were sleeping?”

“I texted my doctor when the test was positive. She found a colleague of hers here that can see me today.” Roxanne slipped into Peter’s lap and kissed him. “Stop fussing. It’s better if I go alone. No one will notice me then.”

“I don’t like it, Rox.” With his protest registered, he caught her mouth for another kiss before setting her on her feet again. “But I’ll cool my heels here until you’re back.”

“Thank you.” Roxanne grabbed her purse and slung it across her shoulder. She grabbed her room key on the way out the door.

There were a few fans waiting at the front of the hotel, and Roxanne signed some autographs and took some selfies before climbing into the waiting car to be driven to her appointment. She wasn’t even bothering trying to keep it a secret. Celebrity gossip had broken the story before she even realized she was pregnant, so there was really no point in trying to hide anything anymore. She didn’t think she saw any paparazzi as she walked through the clinic doors, but she knew that by the time the appointment was over, she would be able to find photos attached to the ironbaby hashtag on twitter. No one seemed to recognize Roxanne in the waiting room, except for the receptionist, who stared in slack-jawed awe at her while she filled in the patient information form. She opened the book she’d been reading and settled in to wait for her appointment.

“Roxanne?” A woman around the same age as Roxanne ushered her into an examination room. Her hair was in a sloppy bun with a couple of pens stuck in it, and she wore a worn out Maroon Five t-shirt over jean capris. Roxanne immediately relaxed. The casual dress code was obviously designed to make patients more comfortable, and it worked. Roxanne rolled up her sleeve and waited while her blood pressure was taken, and cracked open her book again as the woman washed her hands. “If you could put on the gown on the table, and climb up?” She stepped out of the room, and left Roxanne to change. Roxanne slipped into the paper gown and drew the paper sheet across her lap before resuming reading. A few minutes later the same woman reentered the room

“Sorry, that was rude of me. I’m Karen Kennedy. I might be a little star struck,” she apologized as she sat down on the stool opposite Roxanne.

“You’re the doctor?” Roxanne asked. Dr. Kennedy nodded.

“Yeah. Andrea and I went to med school together. She said you guys were roommates in college?” Dr. Kennedy asked.

“Yeah, for the last two years. We probably had too much fun,” Roxanne admitted with a laugh.

“We went to Harvard for med school. She couldn’t have had that much fun,” Dr. Kennedy laughed. “Andrea sent over the relevant parts of your chart this morning. I’m going to take some blood and get you to pee on another stick because based on what I’m seeing in your history, there’s just no way you could be pregnant.”

“Sure,” Roxanne nodded. “I was pretty floored when the two lines showed up.”

Dr. Kennedy drew the blood quickly, and handed Roxanne a small specimen container. “While I take this over to the lab, you pop into the bathroom and fill this for me, and we’ll dip the stick while we wait on the bloodwork result.”

Roxanne met Dr. Kennedy back in the exam room, and handed over the sample. The doctor dipped the pregnancy test in the cup and then laid it on the counter. “I grabbed one of the fancy digital ones. They aren’t any more accurate, but there’s no question when you’re reading something that says ‘pregnant’, right?”

“Makes sense,” Roxanne answered. The test let out a quiet beep and Dr. Kennedy picked it up. Her eyebrows raised and she handed it over to Roxanne without a word. “Well, I guess that’s two votes for baby,” Roxanne quipped.

“If you could lay back? I’m going to be pressing on your stomach. Let me know if anything is tender or hurts,” Dr. Kennedy asked. Roxanne nodded and cooperated, lying back on the crinkly paper covering the cool vinyl of the exam table. Dr. Kennedy palpated her belly a little, and then grabbed a little electronic gadget that Roxanne had never seen before.

“Any idea how far along you are?” 

“I’m guessing about ten weeks,” Roxanne shrugged.

“Might not hear anything, but I’m going to try to find the heart rate,” Dr. Kennedy explained, as she started pressing the probe from the device against Roxanne’s belly. There was a lot of static and then suddenly a rapid whooshing sound. “Ah, there is it. That’s definitely too fast to be you. I’ll bring in the ultrasound and we’ll figure out how far you are.”

Dr. Kennedy left Roxanne lying in the exam room. Her phone chirped and she leaned over and grabbed it out of her purse.

“What the fuck is the meaning of this, Roxanne?” It was from Jerry. A photo of her entering what was clearly the obstetrical clinic was attached.

“Visiting a friend of my doctor?” Roxanne offered. 

“I will personally kill Stark. And then I’m going to kill you.” 

“Listen, I’m really busy. I’ll see you at the venue in a couple hours.” Roxanne silenced her phone but kept it in her hand. If Jerry had seen the photo, everyone had seen the photo.

“Rox. What gives?” Jinx was checking in.

“Andrea recommended I see a doctor about my sickness. She went to med school with Dr. Kennedy.” Roxanne knew her response was evasive, but she didn’t feel like it was appropriate to text the news.

“That explains why you didn’t fly home to have a check in, but seriously, Rox? Stark? Or that Pete chap?”

“We can talk about this later –“ Roxanne’s typing was interrupted by another text coming in. From Stark. “I’m still at the doctor’s office.” She flicked screens over to Tony’s text.

“Not fucking funny, Roxy Rain.”

“I’ve been sick for weeks, and after yesterday, I decided I needed to see a doctor. My doctor recommended this doctor because they went to med school together. Nothing more, Stark.”

“I have rearranged my schedule. See you tonight.”

Dr. Kennedy returned, wheeling in the ultrasound machine. Roxanne dropped her phone back into her purse and waited as the doctor got everything organized. The jelly was cool on her stomach. Dr. Kennedy said nothing, but typed and clicked and moved the probe across her belly, then typed and clicked some more. She stopped and turned the volume up so Roxanne could hear the heartbeat again.

“Does it echo in there?” Roxanne asked.

“No. The whoosh of the heart can be weird to understand though,” Dr. Kennedy explained.

“There’s two very distinct bass lines going there,” Roxanne shook her head. “But they’re both fast. Is one of those me?”

“I’m only hearing one. Let me move the wand around a little and we’ll see if we can’t cut the interference.” Dr. Kennedy slid the wand about and inch and let out a little huff of air. “Well, Roxanne, if you ever decide being a rock star is old hat, you should consider ultrasound tech. There’s the second heartbeat, more clearly.” She turned the volume up a little higher and Roxanne could hear the sharp staccato of two hearts beating rapidly.

“There’s two babies in there,” Roxanne breathed.

“There are two babies in there,” Dr. Kennedy confirmed.

“I wasn’t supposed to be able to –“ Roxanne floundered for words, “I’m sterile though.”

“If you can hold still just a little while longer, I’ll see if I can’t find some pictures of both those babies in your belly. Just to show you that you aren’t sterile.” Dr. Kennedy started moving the probe around on her belly again. More clicking and typing, and then the printer across the room whirred to life. Dr. Kennedy turned the monitor to face the bed. “Okay, here is Twin A, those are feet. And a bum right there. And this is Twin B. That’s the head. Here’s a picture of them together. They appear to be in the same sac, so they’re identical.” She clicked through the pictures on the screen.

Roxanne sat up and leaned closer to the screen, reaching her hand out to touch the image of the two tiny fetuses. “This isn’t possible.”

“I can imagine you must be overwhelmed with this news, Roxanne,” Dr. Kennedy began. “And I can understand if this is not a condition you want to find yourself in –“

“I’d never planned to have children. But that doesn’t mean I didn’t want them,” Roxanne interrupted.

“Congratulations then, Roxanne. I’ll leave you to get dressed. You’re going to need to follow up with Andrea as soon as possible, but I’ll forward all of our results from today on to her. It was a pleasure to meet you,” Dr. Kennedy offered her hand. Roxanne shook it numbly.

“Thanks.” Once Dr. Kennedy had left the room, Roxanne quickly got dressed and headed out into the Austin heat, where the driver was waiting to bring her back to the hotel.

XXX

Peter sprung off the bed as soon as the door opened, and stood waiting. Roxanne smiled. “Sit.”

He obliged and sat back down on the edge of the bed. Roxanne pulled over a chair and sat across from him, knees touching. She pulled the ultrasound images that Dr. Kennedy printed out and put them on Peter’s lap.

“Are these like an X-ray?” Peter asked as he stared at the top image. It was a perfect baby-shaped baby shot of Twin A.

“Yeah, it’s an ultrasound. Sound waves bounce through you and send back a picture of –“

“Like sonar?” Peter interrupted, and started flipping through the pages. He stopped at the last image, his hands shaking. He ran a finger along the image of the two babies, looking confused. He looked up at Roxanne, his eyes wide. “What’s wrong with this baby? It has two heads. And three legs. Oh shit. Is this because I’m half –“

“Pete, read the words on the picture,” Roxanne interrupted. Peter looked back at the picture and his mouth moved as he read the words.

“Twin A. Twin B,” he breathed. “Twins?” He looked back up at Roxanne and she nodded.

“Twins. Strong heart beats. The doctor figures I’m about eleven and a half weeks,” Roxanne offered. Peter put the pictures down on the bed and narrowed his eyes, glaring at his fingers and counting in his head. His head shot back up, eyes wide again.

“That first night?” He exclaimed.

“As far as we can tell, yes,” Roxanne nodded. Peter’s face brightened and he looked so happy that Roxanne could feel her own mood brightening. Just as quickly, his smile fell away. He took Roxanne’s hands and met her gaze.

“Tell me the truth, Rox,” he began. “Is this a bad thing? Are you okay with it?”

“I’m still a little stunned. I don’t know. Two babies, Pete. That’s some kind of magic in your pants, dude,” she let out a little laugh. “All I could think of while the doctor was doing the ultrasound was that I was hoping the baby was okay. I heard two different heartbeats and I was scared there was something wrong with it. Then there were two babies in there, and I was able to relax.”

“That kinda says everything then, doesn’t it?” Peter asked.

“I think so,” Roxanne nodded. Peter leaned forward and kissed her again.

“Listen, you’re busy for another week before you have time off. I can stick around for the week I was planning on staying, or I can go –“

“Why would you go?” Roxanne interrupted.

“You need to square things with the bands, and amend your tour plans and make decisions and I just realized I should probably be here to support you during that. Nevermind. I’ll stick around,” Peter shook his head. 

“Thanks. I’ll settle stuff with Stark tonight and then once we’ve got the rest of the tour schedule figured out, I’ll call a press conference. And after that, start being seen with my baby daddy,” Roxanne squeezed his hand. “Fair?”

“Yes.” Peter tangled his fingers in her hair and kissed her forehead.


End file.
